A wallet misplaced during a romantic embrace has been returned to its forgetful owner after 55 years.

Two classic car collectors from the US state of Idaho found the wallet after it fell out of the back of a vintage car they were planning to restore.

After an internet search they found and contacted the owner, Glenn Goodlove.

Mr Goodlove said he probably lost the wallet in the back seat of his 1946 Hudson car while kissing a girl when he was home on leave from the US Navy.

"If it was in my sailor-mentality years, I might have attempted to, as they said in those years, 'make out,"' Mr Goodlove told the Idaho Twin Falls Times-News.

Vital clues

Jon Beck, 61, and Chuck Merrill, 72, bought the now-vintage vehicle in Idaho after placing an ad in a local newspaper to buy a classic car in need of restoration.

Like a couple of kids, we thought we had a goldmine

Jon BeckClassic car collector

Since 1952, the car had travelled from Washington state, where Mr Goodlove's grandfather owned it, to finish up neglected in Idaho, changing hands several times en route.

Driving the car home after buying it, the collectors stopped at a restaurant and saw something had dislodged below the back seat.

"Like a couple of kids, we thought we had a goldmine," Mr Beck said.

Instead, they found some small change - the leather wallet held a $10 bill, Mr Goodlove's military ID, his Social Security card, his driver's licence and several jewellery receipts from 1952. But they were all in the name of Glenn Putnam.

After searching online, Mr Beck discovered that Mr Putnam had since changed his name to Glenn Goodlove and moved to San Diego, California.

He called Mr Goodlove, asking to speak to a man who used to drive a '46 Hudson.

"There was a silence for about 15 seconds," Mr Beck told the Twin Falls Times-News. "Then he said, 'Who is this?"'

Mr Goodlove, now 75, says he did not even remember losing the wallet, but the find has brought memories of his youth in Everett, Washington, flooding back.

"I could see the house and the car and the town and all the good stuff from living there," he said. "They've been flowing ever since he talked to me."